It Cosmetics Confidence in a Glow Swatches

I can't believe I was so excited about these that I forgot to take pictures of just the product - especially of how GORGEOUS the actual product is! In any case - here we've got It Cosmetics' newest glow product that has a three in one - a highlight, blush and bronzer, all ombre'd into one! They advertise this as getting an "instant all-over vitality filled glow, plus a boost of brightening and radiant warmth, in one simple step"

Of course one of my favorite parts of It Cosmetics products is that they always have some sort of skincare benefits to their products. So not only does this have a gorgeous orange scent, but its infused with vitamin C, has anti aging ingredients, and is talc free!


This is from the It Cosmetics Website and what the inside of each palette looks like with their own color palette.

This comes in three shades:

Instant Nude Glow - sheerest pretty glow (peachy pink blush and my favorite - its very natural!)


Instant Warm Glow - like an INTENSE version of the Nude glow. It has a super pigmented bronzer, deep peachy pink shade. (This would be great for deeper skin tones!)


Instant Natural Glow - has a gorgeous rosy color to it!

Pigmentation: All three shades have great pigmentation and there are definitely great shades for any skin tone! They have a cooler/berry tone as well as two warmer ones. You can make it super subtle, but you can build that SO fast too lol!

Ease: It actually comes with its own brush (sold separately) that advertises one sweep - which works, but I also like to use the colors separately. Either way, its super buttery, soft and smooth which allows for super easy application!

Lasting Ability: With a good primer and foundation, it lasted the whole day! :)

Smell: It smells SO good - like a slight citrus scent.

Price: I think that this three in one is INCREDIBLY reasonable at $32. It is three products in one and is super compact and has .521oz of product.

Overall, a great bang for your buck. In my opinion, you may not need the accompanying brush - this product speaks volumes for itself with any brush you choose! It is gorgeous, pigmented and there is a color for everyone!... plus, who can say no to this amazing packaging!

You can purchase this on It Cosmetics, Ulta, and QVC. :)

ftc. this was sent to me by PR.

Read more >>

Becca Cosmetics x Chrissy Teigan Swatches

So I had to run into sephora yesterday to get a quick touch up on my lippie before I head to meet felix and I ran into the amazing Becca Cosmetics x Chrissy Teigen Palette!!!


The line was too long, so I wasn't able to purchase it yet, but I wanted to share swatches with you!

First impressions - AMAZING QUALITY as are most of Becca's powder products. Another thing I noticed was the blush was more pink than I imagined and the bronzer was more matte and universal than I imagined. Also, the highlights are a bit more glowy and peachy that would be perfect for the summer nights!

Here are some swatches as of now! I cannot WAIT to get my hands on this for real!

This palette retails for $46. You can purchase this at beccacosmetics, sephora, or ulta.   

Read more >>

Benefit Galifornia Blush Swatch and Review

Gal-i-fornia girls la la la!

Was so excited to receive the new Benefit Galifornia Blush! Not going to lie - even though I llooooove the Benefit boxed blushes, I quickly dismissed ordering it since it looked similar to my other fave blushes (lol!) However... the amazing little fairies at Benefit sent over this awesome blush to me along with these fun glasses! So now of course... I have to try it :P

Below are swatches of the blush:

First time using on Cheek (spray overlay is on cheek)

Without direct sunlight

In the sun!! :) So glowy <3 

Here's my breakdown:

Color: This is definitely a glowy pinky-coral color. When you first use it, there is gold spray overlay on it - however once you use that up, there is still some golden sparkle within it. The color is definitely sheer when u first put it on, but is very buildable.

Longevity:  with a primer and foundation, it lasted all day for me. The glow looked beautiful! When I first used it, the golden overlay was a bit much for my face - however once the spray was gone (one to two uses), it left the perfect golden look.

Smell: OMG it smells SO GOOD. I can't stop smelling it. In fact... I would use it just for the smell! I can't quite put my finger on it - it smells kinda like coconut and vanilla, but with a hint of citrus. It's refreshing yet beachy and I can't get enough of it!

Packaging: I love their box powders because its super compact, yet it comes with a mirror as well as the brush. The brush is actually the perfect companion as it allows for more pigmentation than when I used my usual blush brush!

Overall: it's a gorgeous summer color to wear and now I use it daily.. however, it's not incredibly unique as I feel like I may have some similar colors... however, what does make this product unique is the smell! With the smell and the ease of the packaging, it definitely is a wonderful product to bring along with you!!!

You can purchase this product for $29 from Sephora, Ulta, Benefit, or wherever Benefit Cosmetics is sold! :)

ftc. PR sent this to me for review. Thank you!

Read more >>

NEW: Becca Luminous Blush Review and Swatches

Wow! I'm really on a high streak with amazing new products. My face has never been happier... and now with these new Becca blushes - my face is even happier and brighter than before! 

Packaging: I love the sleek, slightly industrial look of these blushes. It's their signature packaging, and I love becca for it! Its easy to carry around, easy to open and doesnt get gross and dirty quickly like other packaging. It also has a cute compact mirror in it, so you are able to touch up easily.

Formula: At first look, these look so extremely sparkly, but it's just an overlay. Once the sparkles dissipate, you are left with a gorgeous color that has a slight sheen/luminosity to it. Each color is extremely pigmented, so a very light hand is needed. The product is soft, but not too powdery that it breaks. Just the right amount to make it very buttery to the touch. Some of the deeper colors, great for darker skin tones, I think are so amazing - I've been using them as eyeshadows too! 

Colors: The range of colors is excellent. It packs in 6 different shades from a pale pink, medium pink, coral, orange-ish, deep pink and brownish pink. It gives such a nice range that no matter what skin color you are, you'll be able to find a nice match for yourself (my favorite being snapdragon which is the PERFECT natural pinky coral ;D) 

Longevity: Becca products have always lasted a nice while on my face. Because of its great pigmentation and buttery formula, it lasted a good 4-5 hours before starting to fade. This outlasted many of my other blushes I own! 

Price: It's at a pricey tag of $34 for each blush... however, you don't need a lot of product for each use. In fact, I definitely use way less swipes of product on my face than other products, so I think this will last a good while! 

 

L-R: Foxglove, Dahlia 

L-R: Tigerlily, Camilia

L-R: Snapdragon, Blushed Copper

L-R: Foxglove, Dahlia, Tigerlily, Camilia, Snapdragon, Blushed Copper 

Overall, I'm so delighted to have the opportunity to try these blushes out because they give the most amazing natural flush... or the boldest pop that you want. You can dress it up and wear it down - these versatile products are good for anyone! Even though the pricey is hefty - it is a small price you have to pay for how long you will probably have this product! 

Read more >>

Benefit Cheekathon Blush Palette: MUST HAVE!

I cannot emphasize this enough.... but if you do not have this blush palette you MUST go and run to get this palette!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Cheekathon is Benefit's newest addition to the blush palettes. Generally speaking, I never picked up any of the blush palettes because they were always smaller size products with some other doodads. However, being that this had FIVE FULL SIZED blushes with 4 of my favorite shades (and the last one i've never tried!), I had to have it! 

The boxed blushes are some of Benefit's cult favorite products. I absolutely have loved these products since the beginning of time. No matter how much I try other blushes and bronzers, I always end up going back to benefit blushes. They have the perfect powder density to make my blush look like "just enough" with a lasting finish. 

l-r: dandelion, hoola, rockateur, dallas, coralista

This is perfect for all year round because of the colors! Dandelion which is the perfect baby pink for summer and spring, Hoola which is an awesome matte bronzer that is not too warm or muddy, Rockateur which is an awesome shimmery pink shade (I thought I wouldn't like this but it looks surprisingly natural on all shades!), my all time favorite - dallas, which is the perfect pinky brown blush! I use this one days when I just feel too lazy to put on blush AND bronzer - its an all in one for me! And lastly, Coralista, which is a more sheer shimmery coral color! 

The BEST part about this palette (Which sets this a part from others!) is that you can take this palette out. You can use the box to store liners or you can use the palette separately etc. As a makeup artist, this is my FAVORITE thing because now rather than having to hold the whole palette as I'm doing someone's makeup, I can just take it out and hold it like an artist. It's super convenient and BRILLIANT! 

Doesn't this make a huge difference! How convenient is that when I'm doing other people's (or my own) makeup! :) 

By far, this is going to be a MUST HAVE for me. Since it's limited edition, I think I may pick up a back up (even though, lets be honest... I'll probably never finish it since they are all full sized LOL!).. I love it THAT much! 

I purchased mine from Sephora - however you can also purchase this item from ulta, benefit.com, macy's :)  

ftc: purchased by me :)

Read more >>

NEW! Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette!

O M G  - when I heard about hourglass coming out with ANOTHER one of their infamous ambient palettes, I had to hop on it! Sephora was having an exclusive VIB rouge sale before it officially came out in October, so I hopped on to pick one (or two :P) up!

Here's your exclusive, first look at the palette. Now I already own one in radiant magenta and have used it for quite some time. The effortless, finely milled texture makes it so easy to apply and gives a somewhat 'airbrushed' finish. It looks so natural without looking chalky.

So you can imagine my excitement to pick up this cute little palette with THREE more colors - two that i've been fawning over! -- luminous flush and mood exposure!

Alright let's get into the picture + swatches for you!

Luminous Flush, Incandescent Electra, Mood Exposure 

Each little blush is .116oz, the original blush is .15oz and the lighting powder is .35oz for comparison! 

Swatches of Luminous Flush (top) - described as a champagne rose

Incandescent Electra (middle) - described as a cool peach

Mood Exposure (bottom) - described as a soft plum

The palette comes out, I believe October 1 and is an amazing addition to your makeup stash if you've been looking to try out these awesome blushes! It's a great travel item too because its sleek, compact yet gives you many choices of color! At $58, it may be steep, but IMO beats paying for ONE blush at $35!  Definitely definitely go check it out! You will love this --- PS. it would be great for a holiday present ;P…. just sayin' <3 

Read more >>

Hourglass Ambient Powder Blush in Radiant Magenta

Hi dollfaces! So I ordered the Hourglass Ambient Lighting blush in Radiant Magenta when Sephora was doing an exclusive VIB sale. I debated getting the other ones, but I decided this one caught my eye the most.

Here is my pretty little blush in Radiant Magenta. The site described this color as a 'golden fuchsia' and its a gorgeous medium pink that leans warm (although it shows on my face as more of a cool pink). Although it has that beautiful golden veining, the shimmer is not overpowering… in fact it looks almost more like a satin finish blush rather than one that is very glittery.

These are very reminiscent of the Hourglass' Ambient Lighting Powders as they feel so soft and silky. They have very finely milled powders that go on effortlessly, blends easily and are very buildable.

To the left is the hourglass blush. I LOVE the packaging and everything about it! (although the font is eh!). To the right is the ambient powder just for comparison purposes :) Their blushes are .15oz and the powder is .35oz

The right side is just a slight wash of color and the left is the color built up. As you can see, you can make the color very natural or very pigmented depending on the look you are going for!

Overall, this blush is lovely. Although not entirely unique (as I have many blush colors in a similar shade!), the blendability and the way it performs is what makes this product worth checking out :)

You can purchase these blushes for $35 online at the hourglass website or at sephora on 2/21.
Will you be picking any up!??!

xoxo

Read more >>

Nars Adult Content Cheek Palette

Ok, did the name not make you giggle with embarrassment? Nars has some of the funniest, raunchiest, inappropriate, yet giggle worthy names.. and this one doesn't disappoint either.

Here is the palette in my hand for size reference :)

Not only was I drawn in by the name, but I was also drawn in by the fact that three of my favorite Nars blushes were placed in one palette. This palette is the same size as the 'foreplay' palette which was a cheek palette that was the 'deconstruction of orgasm. You can see my review and swatches here.

In this palette are:
Deep Throat - a natural peach with shimmer
Zen - described as a 'neutral beige' - but it is more of a soft brown color on my skin
Desire - cotton candy pink
Miss Liberty - peach beige highlighter color with shimmer

Man, I can't get over how much I love this palette because Deep Throat, Zen and Desire are three of my absolute favorite blushes from Nars. The color of Deep throat gives the perfect sheen of color on your face for an every day look, Desire is perfect for a night out, with a fun, cute pink -- to an intense hawwwwt pink, and Zen has always been my go to lazy 'contour and blush' color in one. Miss Liberty is just an extra goodie that you get as a fun highlighter that has some shimmer and glitter.

Below are the colors and swatches. In the palette going clockwise from top left: Zen, Miss Liberty, Deep Throat and Desire.

I adore this palette!!!!

I purchased mine from Nordstrom here for $49. :) 

Read more >>

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour Blush Review

I get a lot of questions about the Tarte Blush and if I've tried it... and my answer to people is always Yes!!! so I figured why not just post a lil ol' review on it so that way for any of my future makeup lovers that may have a similar question about this product, hopefully this review can answer it for you! :)







I have two (actually 3 but one is not pictured) Tarte blushes that I've had for months and months. I have one in a pretty pink (mid way between baby and barbie lol) called Dollface that I received as a gift (not sure if it was last christmas or my birthday) from one of my closest friends in the cyber world, Wendy, aka BentleyBlonde. Maybe about a month after that, I picked up the now extremely coveted Exposed.

First off, I would like to say that.. YES. I love them. The problem is, I really love my Nars Blushes as well, so when it comes down to which one to pick up when I'm getting ready - I tend to go with the oldie but goodie Nars. Although the Tarte may be better in comparison, sometimes it's hard to make the switch!!!!

Here is Dollface. It's a wonderful pink, perfect for an everyday pinky look. It is a nice matte medium pink that gives you the perfect "flushed" look.

Here is Exposed. Everyone and their mamas love this color and I definitely know why. It's very similar to my Douceur and Zen by Nars but it has a bit more of a pinky color in it. It is a nice pinkish brown matte color that is light enough to dual as a bronzer and blush. It gives that effortless look that has people questioning, "damn do her cheeks look amazing and contoured naturally? or does she have on some blush?" (lol).

I do have this in Adored as well, but it has glitter in it, so I don't tend to pick it up. I'm also unsure (I got it a while ago) how the glitters transfer on to the face.

Here are the swatches:

L-R Heavily Swatched Dollface, Heavily Swatched Exposed, One swipe Dollface, One swipe Exposed
PS. I don't know what that scratch is from in the one swipe dollface lol

And now for my breakdown:

Texture: At first touch, it's a bit hard and chalky. I'm not going to lie, I was hesitant in picking it up because of the way it felt when I swatched it. I realized though the hard texture is so that you do waste any product when you're picking it up. Don't be deceived though, the product is WONDERFUL when it is applied with a brush onto your skin. It is way different than my initial thoughts of when I first swatched it in store.

Pigmentation: At first touch, it's just like any normal blush, but it is incredibly buildable which I love. You will see in the swatches above that one swipe can be done for a nice light touch of color or a couple swipes could be used for a darker, night out look.

Lasting Power: I will have to say this is the product that wins them all. Without any sort of cream product underneath, it is by far the longest lasting powder blush I have tried. By the end of the night, my Nars products would have been off my face, leaving me nice and pale (unless I have a cream product underneath it), but the Tarte blush really lasts. When I wore it at 7am to go student teaching and by the time I got home around 7:30pm - I could still see remnants of color on my face. I mean it's not like when I put it at 7am, but the color is still there.

Who would this be good for: I have quite dry cheeks and it works fine for my skin. It actually claims that it could work for all skin types - and I'll be honest, I don't doubt it:

For oily skin types, Amazonian clay minimizes oil in and around pores to balance skin and keep product in place. Those with dry skin will benefit from the clay's nourishing and hydrating properties, which naturally restore skin's moisture. Combination skin types can rely on its ability to zero in on skin concerns and deliver benefits to restore complexion harmony.  

Price: Price is a bit steep at $25 per piece, but I'll be honest, I haven't made near dent on either of these blushes, and I've had them for quite a while AND used the quite a bit. In fact, you can still see the original tarte design on it, which to me... is kinda crazy!

Overall: Would make an excellent purchase an investment. This proves to be an extremely versatile product that I really believe that this can work for anyone. I would highly recommend it 100% to anyone.
              Pros: Everything. Long lasting-ness, color payoff, good for all skin types

              Cons: Price, not sure how the glitter-y colors would look on skin. 

You can purchase it here at sephora.com

Read more >>

Benefit Hervana FLASH SALE - TODAY only!

For today only (12/5), Hervana, Benefit's newest boxed blusher is having a flash sale! Once today is over, it wont be back until the Spring 2012 line comes out!!

It is available at benefitcosmetics.com, sephora.com, ulta.com and bloomingdales.com :)It got great reviews from temptalia and muse - go check it out! 

DO it. I just picked mine up using my sephora VIB giftcard! hehe

Read more >>